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Description

Movie Money – Where It Is and How to Find it

You have a great idea for a movie. You’ve met your writer and had meeting after meeting about the script. Now you need some cash to make your short or feature. This evening is about film finance finesse.

This evening workshop will run through the basic financing tools available for any business, not just the film business. These tax-efficient finance structures make Canada one of the most attractive places to raise money for film production. Find out how they work and how to utilise them.

Canadian tax-efficient finance vehicles

Enterprise Investment Schemes

Pension Plans: Gold for filmmakers

Profit participation

This evening class outlines the basics of film finance and will provide you with the elements of a plan to raise money for your movie.

About the Instructor

Michael Sparaga is an award-winning Canadian screenwriter and producer. His debut feature, the critically-acclaimed, superhero-comedy Sidekick, played in numerous worldwide film festivals and was released in Canada by Maple Pictures before going on to sell in multiple international territories, including the US (Warner Home Video). Remake rights were optioned by Universal’s Focus Features.

His follow-up production, Maple Flavour Films, a humorous TV-hour documentary on the current state of the Canadian film industry, which Michael also directed, made the rounds on the Canadian film festival circuit and aired on Air Canada and PayTV.

Michael’s second feature, the workplace-comedy, Servitude, celebrated a sold-out world premiere at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal before going on to be released in Canada by Alliance Films. Starring Joe Dinicol (“The L.A. Complex”), Margot Kidder (Superman), Enrico Colantoni (“Veronica Mars”) and Dave Foley (“The Kids in the Hall”), Servitude was the first film greenlit for production out of Telefilm Canada’s Features Comedy Lab. As part of the Lab, Michael prepared Servitude for production with mentorship from comedy heavyweights Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) and Donald Petrie (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days).

As a screenwriter, Michael has had several screenplays optioned and several in active development. When not writing and producing under his own banner, Michael works with other independent filmmakers, providing story editing services as well as assisting them in various producing capacities. Credits include Son of the Sunshine (world premiere Slamdance 2009) and Gravy Train (released through Alliance Films in 2010).